


blink, and let the sky in

by beyondthehorizon



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen, but it’s a happy ending i promise, kinda a little bit sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 16:57:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18578698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyondthehorizon/pseuds/beyondthehorizon
Summary: “why is your name toothless?” a hatchling asks, many years later.





	blink, and let the sky in

“why is your name toothless?” a hatchling asks, many years later. “it’s such a strange name. i’ve never met anyone else named ‘toothless.’”

 

he starts, at the question. he’s never been asked it before. then he closes his eyes, and breathes. it has been so long.

 

there has never been any reason to ask why he is called what he is called. his flock has always known who gave him that name, and why he had no name before. his flock has always known the story. his flock has always known Him.

 

he realizes, suddenly, that this hatchling will never meet Him.

 

it opens a chasm inside him.

 

“my name is a story, young one, but i must warn you: it is not a happy story. are you sure you want to know?”

 

the hatchling nods, wide-eyed. she is stormfly’s blood, he realizes. she has her pale blue scales- there is more orange than yellow, and there is red at the ends of her wings, but the resemblance is striking all the same.

 

if she is anything like stormfly, she will understand.

 

“you have heard the stories of the world beyond the waterfall,” he begins.

 

“yes,” the hatchling says.

 

he hums. “you have heard the stories of why we left that world, and the people who are still there,”

 

“yes,” the hatchling says again. “but those are only stories. no one could make a whole world of dragons do something they don’t want to.”

 

she says it so matter-of-factly. they have forgotten, he thinks with sorrow. they have forgotten. it has been so long. “they are not only stories. they are the truth, as much as i wish they weren’t. the world above the waterfall is the world i was born to, you see. i led us here, out of the sky, for our own safety, because the humans were hunting us.”

 

“i thought humans weren’t real.”

 

“they are, and they live above the waterfall still. there are humans who loved us, and who protected us, up there. we lived alongside them for years, in peace.

 

“there was a boy, you see, one boy who brought it all. he knew what it was to be hated, but still found it in him to love so much, and that is why he was incredible. he was my boy. he was mine and i was his, and we thought we would be happy, because we had each other and he had his tribe and i had my flock. we thought we would be happy.

 

“but all the human world does not love dragons. there are also humans who are cruel, and greedy, and who hunted dragonhide.”

 

“hunted _dragonhide_? that's horrible!”

 

“it was. they would use our scale for armor, and devour our meat. but some didn't even do that much; they simply hunted us for sport, because they hated us, and that was all.”

 

the hatchling is speechless. he doesn't blame her.

 

“the kind humans tried to fight the cruel ones, or show them that we were people, too. to convince them that we were good, and not for hunting. but they wouldn't hear it. there was hate in their hearts, you see; they were too far gone for even His endless love and forgiveness. the time came when the cruel outnumbered the kind, and there was only so long we could fight.”

 

“so you all had to leave,” the hatchling whispers, finally understanding.

 

“yes. understand, i led us out of the sky for the good of all dragons. but acting for the good of all means, invariably, that hearts are broken, and leaving? well- it happened to break mine.”

 

he sighs, and tips his head up. crystals drip from the arcing cave roof, rainbow and beautiful. (what he wouldn't give to change history.)

 

“when i left the sky, i left love behind. His name, now, is all that i have.”

 

the hatchling blinks. “but you love the queen.”

 

“i do. but there is more than one kind of love. when i was young and knew the sky, i loved my boy and He loved me. but He was human, and even He could not follow me into the sea.”

 

“oh.”

 

they pause, and he breathes. “return to your dam, young one. it is getting late.” he says eventually.

 

the hatchling looks at him one more time before turning and scampering off. he can feel her stare glancing back at him every now and again, strong and intelligent though she is so young.

 

he unfurls his wings and takes to the air. it is a familiar act, but suddenly the back of his neck aches for a weight that is not there, and his chest feels bare without the old leather harness. it has been so long.

 

he coasts as the crystals turn to stone and the flock is left behind. the tunnels narrow, and a distant thunder becomes audible. this is a path he could fly in his sleep, but is not taught to the young anymore. there is no reason for it.

 

finally, the tunnel opens up. the roaring waterfall is deafening, and he tips his head up and beats his wings hard.

 

the sea stretches out forever in every direction, but he has eyes only for the stars. he dances in the open, twisting and turning as best as he can in memory of the way they once did, together.

 

the false tail clicks, and he misses his boy with sorrow endless and dark as the night sky they once ruled.

 

they didn’t have enough time. he cannot regret leaving for the sea- neither of them could- but he regrets the time they never had together. they belonged to two different worlds, in the end; two different worlds that could not overlap.

 

finally, he pulls out of a steep dive and just glides. this is the world he left behind, and he misses it, but if he is honest- he misses most the one he knows no longer inhabits it.

 

“wait for me,” he calls to no one listening. “wait for me and i will come.”

 

eventually the sky begins to bleed. he has not seen the sun rise in a very long time, and he watches the stars blink out and the night seep away. but he cannot stay here, and finally turns back toward the waterfall.

 

_(some time later, the last night fury will say goodbye to a world he has ruled for years uncountable. he will coast through the tunnels of the hidden world, and he will soar into the sky with no one watching. no one will ever know where he went. he will never be seen again._

 

_“hey, bud,” a familiar voice says. it has been so long.)_


End file.
